Zechariah 7
King James Version (1769) · Tap a verse to see it in context
About this chapter
AI-assisted, sourcedIn Darius's fourth year, men are sent to ask the priests and prophets whether they should still weep and fast in the fifth month. The LORD answers, "did ye at all fast unto me, even to me," and repeats what the former prophets said: "Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother," and do not oppress "the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor." Their fathers refused to hear, "therefore came a great wrath," and the LORD scattered them among the nations. Zechariah 7:1Zechariah 7:2Zechariah 7:3Zechariah 7:5Zechariah 7:7Zechariah 7:9Zechariah 7:10Zechariah 7:11Zechariah 7:12Zechariah 7:14
Who, where, when, and the key verses
Who
Zechariah; Sherezer and Regemmelech and their men, sent to pray and to ask; the priests and prophets; "all the people of the land"; and the fathers who "refused to hearken." Zechariah 7:1Zechariah 7:2Zechariah 7:3Zechariah 7:5Zechariah 7:11
Where
The question is brought to "the priests which were in the house of the LORD of hosts." The LORD recalls when Jerusalem "was inhabited and in prosperity," with men living in "the south and the plain." Zechariah 7:2Zechariah 7:3Zechariah 7:7JerusalemSouth 1Shephelah
When
"In the fourth year of king Darius... in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu," about 518 BC. Most scholars agree that chapters 1-8 come from Zechariah in 520-518 BC, under Darius king of Persia. Zechariah 7:1Zechariah overview
How it fits
The visions of chapters 1-6 are over; this chapter answers a practical question with the message of the "former prophets." Chapter 8 answers with promises: "I am returned unto Zion." Zechariah 7:3Zechariah 7:7Zechariah 7:12Zechariah 8:3Zechariah overview
Key verses
- Verse 5
"When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me." Isaiah 58:6 asks, "Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness." Zechariah 7:5Isaiah 58:6
- Verse 9
"Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother." Micah 6:8 asks, "what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy." Zechariah 7:9Zechariah 7:10Micah 6:8
- Verse 13
"As he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts." 2 Chronicles 36:16 says they "misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people." Zechariah 7:11Zechariah 7:12Zechariah 7:132 Chronicles 36:16
Takeaway
Religious habits mean little without mercy and justice toward others; hear God's word and do it, so your heart does not harden. Zechariah 7:5Zechariah 7:9Zechariah 7:10Zechariah 7:12
Drafted by AI from the Scripture and data shown under “Show sources,” then checked automatically and by a separate AI reader. Updated 2026-10-29.
A question about fasting
1And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu; 2When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to pray before the LORD, 3And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years? 4Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying, 5Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me? 6And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves? 7Should ye not hear the words which the LORD hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain?
Justice and mercy, refused by the fathers
8And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying, 9Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother: 10And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. 11But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear. 12Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts. 13Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts: 14But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.